FEATURE COVER STORY CONT .
Exclusive , Behind The Scenes Interview With Kaseya ' s CEO Fred Voccola
How The Kaseya-Datto Partnership Impacts MSPs
BY COLLEEN FRYE
A t September ’ s Kaseya DattoCon partner conference , MSP Success sat down with Kaseya ' s CEO , Fred Voccola , to talk about what ’ s new and what ’ s ahead . This is a condensed and edited version of that conversation .
MSP Success : Can You Reflect On What The Datto Investment Has Produced For Partners To Date ?
Voccola : When we bought Datto , we talked about “ better together .” People thought it meant Kaseya and Datto were both better together , but it was Kaseya , Datto , and our partners [ that ] are better together . When we look at the amount of innovation that we have accomplished together , how much better all the technology has gotten , how much more deeply integrated it ’ s gotten , how much more automation we provide — all the things that this combined company can provide for our combined partners — it ’ s staggering . We accomplished all those things in the first year . Imagine what we ’ ll do next year , and the year after that . We want to make sure people understand that this is the benefit of being a partner that ’ s powered by Kaseya .
MSP Success : You United Your Partner Programs Under The Datto Program . What Was The Thinking Behind That ?
Voccola : Datto had a good pulse on creating value-add [ ed ] programs and components . Their program was better than Kaseya ’ s . For example , we did not have a formal MDF [ marketing development funds ] program . Datto recognized that many midsize and small MSP partners might not have marketing expertise or a dedicated marketing group . So part of the MDF was not only paying for it but Datto would put the program on and do the logistics . It was very pragmatic and very entrepreneurial . Datto ’ s founder , Austin McChord , is an entrepreneur , and that entrepreneurial DNA [ can be found ] throughout the Datto partner program , so we adopted it and made enormous financial investments with almost four times the amount of MDF funds and partners participating in MDF .
MSP Success : You Recently Launched Cooper Bots For Business Process Automation , Which Builds On Your AI Intelligence Engine . What Differentiates Your Bots From Competitors ?
Voccola : Since we own the [ software ], our bot can build the automation between these processes . A bot can ’ t do that between five different products from five different vendors because they can ’ t control it . The workflow integrations allow for automation , and automation is the name of the game in IT and security management .
MSP Success : What ’ s Next For Kaseya That Partners Will Be Excited About ?
Voccola : What we ’ ll be announcing at Kaseya Connect Global on April 29 in Las Vegas will be five times as impactful on the industry as the Datto acquisition . It will fundamentally transform the MSP community , and it will benefit every single partner .
MSP Success : Can You Give Us A Hint ?
Voccola : It ’ s not a merger . It ’ s not an acquisition . It ’ s not another naming rights . It ’ s something that every MSP has wanted for 15 years , and they will finally get it .
MSP Success : Is It A Product Or A Service ? Voccola : It is something awesome .
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